Tunisia routinely uses torture, illegal detention and unfair trials in the name of fighting terrorism and should be held to accepted standards by its western backers, Amnesty International will urge today.

Amnesty documented 977 cases of people tried for terrorism in the north African country in the past two years. Virtually all were convicted of planning to join jihadist groups abroad or inciting others to join, but never on charges of having planned or committed acts of violence at home.

Tunisia, under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, is usually bracketed as one of the most "moderate" Arab regimes despite its authoritarian character.

It has been free of political violence for years, with the exceptions of a 2002 attack on a synagogue, which killed 21 people, and a clash in 2006 between troops and an armed group, in which 14 died. Both incidents were linked to al-Qaida.

Since draconian anti-terror laws were introduced in 2003, Amnesty has found evidence of arrest dates being falsified, prisoners held incommunicado and torture used to extract confessions.

Methods include beatings, suspension by the ankles, heads plunged into buckets of water, electric shocks, and burning with cigarettes. Amnesty reports allegations of bottles or sticks being inserted into prisoners' rectums, the sexual abuse of female relatives, and mock executions.

It also highlights the lack of independence of the judiciary and the abuse of Tunisians returned from abroad. "Despite Tunisia's record ... European countries, the US and others continue to return individuals suspected of terrorism-related offences to Tunisia where they are at serious risk of torture and other violations."